Men’s ministry mends hearts, homes

Rosa M. Hall, 85, who has lived in her home since 1962, stands in her doorway on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015. Members of Prattville's "33 Men's Ministry" are reconstructing her kitchen floor.(Photo: Albert Cesare / Advertiser)Buy Photo

PRATTVILLE – As an infant, Rosa Hall was abandoned, and in later years, was scarred and beaten. Today, at 85 years old, she is simply grateful somebody wants to help fix her aging and dilapidated home that she shares with four grandchildren.

Standing in the back of it off of Martin Luther King Drive, she watched as men from “River Region 33” gutted her kitchen — an 8-foot by 12-foot space — in order to prepare it for new flooring. The community outreach ministry, sponsored by the Prattville/Montgomery district of the Alabama-West Florida conference United Methodist Church — and founded by a handful of members of First United Methodist Church in Prattville — expected to complete the project this past weekend.

Hall, who has lived in the house since 1962, said, “I just thank the Lord for what I can get. I know it’s an old house. I know it’s not fancy. But I thank God there is shelter over my head. My mom and grandmother were here first. I’m an adopted child, and they became disabled, and me and my husband moved in with them.

“And that’s the reason I’m here. I worked so hard to pay for this house, and about two years ago, I did.”

And organizations such as River Region 33 and Rebuilding Together Central Alabama help her maintain it.

‘It’s about building disciples ...’

Together, River Region 33 and RTCA have joined together on projects throughout the region, with “33” providing the labor and RTCA providing the supplies. Since River Region 33 was founded in 2013, it has built about a dozen wheelchair ramp projects and decks.

“This will be our second interior remodeling job that we have done,” said Mike Harris, a River Region 33 founder. “It’s a faith-based ministry and it’s about building disciples for the transformation of the world. That’s what we do. There’s a lot of growth opportunity for the men who get involved.

“We live in a world and a culture that is fairly self-centered, and this ministry is one, of course, that is intentional in giving to others without any expectation of any kind of personal reward other than the growth that comes from it. The folks that we help are generally those that would fall through the cracks from other programs.”

‘Had the best teacher ...’

Hall lost her husband to cancer in 1996, and after paying off debt left from it, has worked tirelessly to maintain her home. But as the years passed, she couldn’t keep up. Together, “33” and RTCA have joined forces and helped update the plumbing in her bathroom, and also helped tear down a back building at her home.

“The fourth project might be a Habitat house,” said Tom Risher, who often works with both “33” and RTCA, and who is the former executive director of Habitat for Humanity. “At (Hall’s) house, the kitchen was falling in. The flooring bowed down. She had asked about it over the years, that she could walk in her kitchen without falling down.”

Hall, who is active in her church and who spends most of her time chauffeuring friends to appointments, shares her home with four grandchildren. Her Social Security and meager retirement money supports everyone. Given up for adoption as an infant, she was attacked as she slept at age 15, when someone threw acid on her face, leaving her disfigured.

She talks about it, quietly.

“Yes, that happened,” she said. “I was in the hospital for three months in Birmingham.”

Then, in her mid-30s, in 1965, she was tied to a tree and beaten by the KKK, with Hall later telling her boss it was a case of mistaken identity.

Hall dropped out of school when she was in the 10th grade, saying she was “ashamed” to go back after the acid incident, knowing “how kids would be. But I had the best teacher ... Jesus Christ. He tells me things, reveals things to me. And I teach Bible classes. And I’m in the ministry. And I just thank God that he is so good to me.

“I cook meals for people,” she said. “I take some to the hospital. I know I need help, too, but I just like to help.”